Robert craig knievel biography of abraham

Evel Knievel: Motorcycle Daredevil. Scalzo, Joe. Evel Knievel and Other Daredevils. New York : Grosset and Dunlap, Cite this article Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography. January 9, Retrieved January 09, from Encyclopedia. Then, copy and paste the robert craig knievel biography of abraham into your bibliography or works cited list.

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After doing his normal pre-jump show and a few warm up approaches, Knievel began his real approach. When he hit the takeoff ramp, he felt the motorcycle unexpectedly decelerate. The sudden loss of power on the takeoff caused Knievel to come up short and land on the safety ramp which was supported by a van. This caused the handlebars to be ripped out of his hands as he tumbled over them onto the pavement where he skidded into the Dunes parking lot.

As a result of the crash, Knievel suffered a crushed pelvis and femur, fractures to his hip, wrist and both ankles and a concussion that kept him in a coma for 29 days. After his crash and recovery, Knievel was more famous than ever. ABC-TV bought the rights to the film of the jump, paying far more than they originally would have, had they televised the original jump live.

Ironically, when Knievel finally achieved the fame and possible fortune that he always wanted, his doctors were telling him that he might never walk without the aid of crutches, let alone ride and jump motorcycles. To keep his name in the news, Knievel started describing his biggest stunt ever, a motorcycle jump across the Grand Canyon.

Just five months after his near fatal crash, Knievel performed another jump. Knievel ended up breaking his right leg and foot as a result of the crash. On August 3,Knievel returned to jumping, making more money than ever before. While trying to stick the landing, he lost control of the bike and crashed again, breaking his hip once more. More showpiece than actual motorcycle, the X-1 had two rocket engines capable of producing thrust of more than 14, pounds force 62 kN bolted to the side of a normal motorcycle.

Knievel also had all the trucks he used to go from one jump to the next painted to promote the Grand Canyon jump. ByKnievel realized that the United States government would never allow him to jump the Grand Canyonso he considered several other stunts that might match the publicity that jumping the canyon would have been generated. While flying back to Butte from a performance tour, Knievel looked out the window and saw the Snake River Canyon.

After finding a location near Twin Falls, Idaho, that was both wide enough, deep enough and on private property, Knievel leased acres 1. He set the date for Labor Day, On January 7 - 8,Knievel set the record by selling overtickets to back-to-back performances at the Houston Astrodome. On February 28, he set a new world record by jumping 19 cars in Ontario, California.

On May 10, Knievel crashed while attempting to jump 13 Pepsi delivery trucks. His approach was complicated by the fact that he had to start on pavement, cut across grass, and then return to pavement. His lack of speed caused the motorcycle to come down front wheel first. He managed to hold on until the cycle hit the base of the ramp. After being thrown off he skidded for 50 feet 15 m.

Knievel broke his collarbone, suffered a compound fracture of his right arm and broke both legs. After making a successful jump, he tried to come to a quick stop because of a short landing area. Knievel was thrown off and run over by his own motorcycle, ending up with a broken back and a concussion.

Robert craig knievel biography of abraham

During two test jumps, the rocket failed to make it all the way across the canyon. Knievel said that there would be no more tests and that he would go ahead with the scheduled jump on September 8, The launch at the Snake River Canyon was at p. Upon take-off, the drogue parachute accidentally deployed when the three bolts holding the cover for the chute sheared off with the force of the blast.

The deployed chute caused enough drag that even though the skycycle made it all the way across the canyon the wind began to cause it to drift back as the skycycle turned on its side, descending into the canyon. Wind had pushed the skycycle across the river enough so that as it hit, it landed half in and half out of the water; a couple feet less and Knievel would have drowned.

He survived the jump with only minor injuries. On May 26,in front of 90, people at Wembley Stadium in LondonKnievel crashed while trying to land a jump over 13 city buses the term "London Buses" used in earlier publicity had led to many believing the attempt was to be made over the higher double-deck type. After the crash, despite breaking his pelvis, Knievel addressed the audience and announced his retirement.

After recuperating, Knievel decided that he had spoken too soon, and that he would continue jumping. After this jump, he again announced his retirement. Of course, it only lasted until Evel jumped on October 31, at the Seattle Kingdome. He only jumped seven Greyhound Buses. The jump was a success. Despite the crowd's pleasure, Knievel felt that it was not his best jump.

He apologized to the crowd for the jump. Knievel made only a few daredevil appearances after that, jumping for the final time in March in Hollywood, Florida. Evel Knievel's first lesson in life was that of enduring pain and not giving up. At the age of six months, he lost both his parents, who wished to erase every memory of their marriage, including Evel and younger brother Nic.

Being raised by his grandmother, he stated, "All my grandmother wanted was to talk with me and to rub her feet. I just hate myself for not spending more time with her and telling her 'I love you' one more time," Evel says. Kelly, Evel's oldest son, owns a construction firm in Las Vegas. His family includes daughters Alicia and Tracey, 11 grandchildren and ex-wives Linda Knievel and Krystal Kennedy, who remained his caregiver and companion despite their brief, troubled marriage.

Knievel sought to make more money off of his image. No longer satisfied with just receiving free motorcycles to robert craig knievel biography of abraham with, Knievel wanted to be paid to use and promote a company's brand of motorcycles. After Triumph Motorcycles, the motorcycle that he had been jumping with, refused to meet his demands, Knievel started to propose the idea to other manufacturers.

American Eagle Motorcycles was the first company to sign Knievel to an endorsement deal. Knievel kept up his pursuit of getting the United States government to allow him to jump the Grand Canyon. Evel Knievel passed away on November 30,at his home in Clearwater, Florida, at the age of He experienced breathing difficulties and died before emergency services could transport him to the hospital.

He was buried in his hometown of Butte, Montana. Knievel was married twice. His first marriage lasted 38 years and ended in He had four children with his first wife. Inhe married his long-time friend Crystal Kennedy, but they divorced two years later. They later reconciled and lived together until Knievel's death. Coma Unable to persuade TV companies to cover the stunt he hired his own cameraman to record the event.

The resulting crash put him in a coma for 29 days and elicited massive bids for the film from the now-eager media. After authorities vetoed his plan to leap across the Grand Canyon he set up an attempt on the narrower Snake River Canyon in Idaho. Strapped into a rocket-powered bike Knievel plunged into the river below after a parachute opened prematurely.

This time he escaped with minor injuries. British fans also got their chance to see Knievel in action in when he attempted to jump over 13 buses at Wembley Stadium. But the rear wheel clipped the last bus in the row and he somersaulted onto the ramp with the bike crashing down on top of him. A concussed Knievel, nursing more broken bones, announced his retirement over the stadium's PA system.

World record Despite this he was back five months later, this time successfully clearing 14 buses in Ohio and setting a new world record. It was his last major appearance. Even in retirement he could not keep out of the spotlight. The publication of a book written by his former publicist Sheldon Saltman, which painted a less than rosy picture of his family life, angered Knievel.

Despite having both arms in plaster he attacked Saltman with a baseball bat. He was jailed for six months.